What Is A Fair Trade Gem?

Until the last century, colored gems were the most popular choice for engagement rings. Today, many ethical brides want a sapphire, ruby or aquamarine not only for their astonishing beauty, but also for ethical reasons. Many people would rather support companies that work on more of a fair trade basis, and finding such a gemstone requires a little bit of background knowledge.     

Starry Night Engagement Ring Set with Sri Lanka Sapphire
Photo Courtesy of Reflective Images

What Is A Fair Trade Gem?

About 90% of the colored gems that appear in the jewelry case come from holdings from small miners, dug with a shovel and pick. What typically happens is that dealers purchase rough (unpolished gemstone still in its matrix) and sell the material to others, who export it to cutting centers around the world. It may then be sold to a wholesaler who presents the gem at a trade show, making it difficult to trace back to source when your retailer purchases it. For all but a very few in the jewelry sector, the primary consideration in all these transactions is to buy at the lowest possible price and sell at the highest price. 

The key issue with fair trade gemstones is assuring that that there is real economic benefit for the small community where the gem is mined. A fair trade gem would need to work within a set of principles and ground standards that assure ethical working conditions and environmental safeguards. This criteria would be monitored by an independent third party. Ideally, the local economy where the gem is mined would benefit from polishing operations. The entire supply chain would be completely traceable.

However, this ideal scenario does not exist. Instead, there is no third party monitoring and we have elements of the fair trade ideal in three different frameworks.

Current Fair Trade Gem Sources

The first source are co-ops or associations of artisan small scale miners (ASM). The challenge here is that small-scale miners are generally not organized into cohesive communities to sell product as “ethically sourced.” Often ASM are poor and do not have access to market or polishing operations. One example of a successful organized group is the Tanzania Women Miners Association (TAWOMA).  However, because they do not have representation in the US or EU, sourcing can be difficult. Jewelers are not at ease purchasing gems sight unseen, and international shipping can be expensive.

A second group offering fair trade gems is made up of companies that have created their own fair trade principles and standards. Columbia Gems has pioneered this process at a ruby deposit in Malawi, where they work with small-scale miners and provide schooling and many other benefits. Their cutting is done in China and supervised carefully. A second example of this type of company is Ruby Fair, which sources out of a remote village in Tanzania. 

The third option to find ethically sourced gems are individuals who contact the artisanal miners directly and develop relationships that benefit their people and villages based upon a fair trade ethos. They personally finance exploration and shepherd the rough to cut through a factory that they know is ethical. One person who does this, and whom I have known and have been buying from for almost twenty years, is Guy Clutterbuck.    

How To Find The Gems

If you want to find one of these ethically sourced gems, the easiest way is to search companies that are marketing themselves as fair, responsible and ethical in their engagement rings. View several websites to get a feel for what is going on. Once you find someone who makes claims, see what gems they are offering. Then, simply find out the story of how these gems are produced. 

Jewelers that are really working in the spirit of fair trade will be transparent about the source of their gems, from mine to market. They will tell you the companies that they are sourcing from. By buying a fair trade gem and supporting the efforts of these early pioneers, your purchase will symbolically embody the better world that you wish to see.   

Written By Marc Choyt, Co-Owner of Reflective Images

Marc Choyt co-owns Reflective Images with his wife, Helen Chanter. He publishes www.fairjewelry.org, the top rated site on google for fair trade jewelry consumer and trade issues. Before being the jewelry business, Marc was a high school teacher for Native Americans and was a volunteer director of an orphanage in Haiti. 

Outside of work, Marc loves wilderness backpacking, international travel, slow food, hunting and organic gardening.

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